Written by TheBigN
This is what I’d like to say a “philosophical exercise” based on some RL events. But it’s really just me asking a bunch of questions, so take it as you see it, I guess. 
So last weekend, I went to the Sakura Matsuri, an event near the end of the National Cherry Blossom Festival (yes redundant, I know :P), which was sort of an “all about Japan” festival. It was predicated by the Cherry Blossom Parade, which was entertaining save for the blocks of minutes between some groups because of performances in other areas and what not. But oh well. Being who I am, with an anime blog and all, I checked out everything the festival had to offer, but spent most of my time looking a section focused on anime, manga and popular music in Japan called “J-Pop Land”. There were a couple of stands for various stores and events (remember a Katsucon prereg table, and I need to look at my schedule for next year, since it seems a good a time as any to go to a con), and a main stage where some artists placed.
It was on that stage that a cosplay contest was held, which made sense since I did see a lot of cosplayers spread out around various areas of the event. A lot of the cosplay was good (the ones that stick in my mind were a Nanoha cosplay, as well as an awesome Princess Peach and Mario), and the people who one deserved it, IMO. But it was the presence that some of them placed on the stage that bothered me for some reason. Whether if it was someone singing on stage, or saying something “goofy”, etc., I either facepalmed or turned away from the, and though to me it looked like some of the people in the crowd enjoyed the contestants being themselves, it was still discomforting to me.
It was then that I started to wonder, “why am I caring so much about how the cosplayers act on stage”? This was important especially when I don’t know any of the cosplayers involved, nor should they really care about how I felt. Was I embarrassed for them, or for myself? Or better yet, why did I feel embarrassed in the first place? Who the hell did I think I was, anyway, and why did I feel important enough to feel how I did? Looking back at this moment a couple of days ago, I see what I did there, however brief, as elitist, hypocritical, and wholly unnecessary. And I know that it hasn’t been the first time I felt that way, either; I felt that way when I looked at posts on forums or comments on blogs that remind me of some of the more negative posts at places like Gaia, for example.
This is the situation that I saw and keep seeing myself in: that as an anime fan, we somehow represented anime culture by extension. But who are we representing to exactly? People who aren’t into anime, or who couldn’t care less about it. At the same time, why do we have to represent in the first place? Why am I placing this burden on myself, and why do I feel that other people feel the same way that I do? I think for me, the answer lied in a want for this culture to be accepted more than it already has been, and a worry that a group of “bad eggs” who tend to act outside of societal norms would “ruin” things for the rest of us. So, how would things be ruined, and why do I feel that anime isn’t accepted enough in the mainstream? Or to place it more squarely on myself, what would it mean for me, as someone who doesn’t wear his anime-loving heart on his sleeve for everyone to see? Why am I so negative about a culture I belong to?
These shortsighted and superficial questions just keep coming, and I have no answers because I can’t see these questions as justifiable ones. Nor could I see any solution that I could come up with at the moment being nothing more than a “validation” of the snobbish attitude that I have, and I want to try and minimize that influence ASAP. I know I’m not the only one that has these sorts of thoughts, and these can have a major role in our enjoyment of the medium itself.
When looking at how hard some people are slamming shows like Kanokon, or the fervor behind the Kodomo no Jikan situation last year, I wonder if those concepts rear their head again. I can understand why people complain about things like less than stellar animation, lack of a good plot, etc., but the majority of complaints have been about the titillation in the viewer’s face, which I think is silly (and so does Owen). I wonder what’s really “wrong” with Kanokon’s blatant fanservice, since it’s hard to find a show that’s willing to be so truthful about that. Is the problem because of the fanservice being out in the open, and if so, why does that matter so much? Is part of the reason the same worries and fears that relate to the ones that I hold for some of the “less self-controlled” members of the anime fandom, or relate to why people were so adamant about KnJ coming to the US? It’s definitely more than just that, but I wonder how much of a factor these apprehensive thoughts do come into play, if at all.
Either way, at least I’m telling myself try to stop worrying and to stop getting embarrassed over how zealous fans can be. Especially because I can’t say that I’m not obsessed myself, seeing how I have an anime blog and all. :3
TheBigN
nomadotto
Gah, it’s like the eternal struggle between being supposedly ‘too openly eager’ about anime and *gasps* being an elitist closet fan
It’s interesting how being a fan of anime can come with a certain amount of self consciousness in how you portray your fandom in RL. It seems that those who are more into mainstream stuff (Bleach, Naruto) and watch little else besides tend to be more open in RL about how anime “is cool because it has awesome swordfights” or wtv, while those who are a bit more invested into anime can be dangerously close to the elitist snob who looks down on the first group… (Funny how ‘noob’ is just a letter or two away from ’snob’ 
Or maybe it’s just me suppressing the urge to roll my eyes whenever ppl around me start talking about Bleach -_-”
Is anime/manga more objectively better or worse than another media? I don’t think so, different enjoyment factors, but it is still media. ^^
How does the general population feel about those interested in novels or art? It shouldn’t be any different for a/m, but we can’ control the way others think. I myself just expect that everyone sees media as media. If they want to argue what they enjoy more, well there’s no arguing, it’s them and I’m me.
… the big picture
Isn’t ’self-introspection’ a tautology?
If I recall correctly, the reason KnJ was discarded wasn’t because of moral scruples per se, but because the people who were going to release it were worried that the reaction from those with moral scruples would damage the standing of anime, manga and - hell - Japan itself generally. (Given the furore over Mass Effect, and Walmart’s careful return of every single Gundam Deathscythe Hell, they may have had a point.)
Quite what that says about the relationship between fanboys and the mainstream, I don’t know, especially since I’m writing from a different country.
IKnight: Duly noted, and edited title.
That’s what I’m talking about. Especially when you look at some of the comments that Answerman had about the situation when he addressed it. What would releasing KnJ here represent about the anime culture as a whole? Based on the response, there was a lot of fear and worry that things wouldn’t turn out well, hence the backlash.
As for what it says about fanboys and the mainstream, that’s enough for a post which I don’t feel like making, especially because I feel like I’m uninformed about that.
issa-sa:
I think you’re simplifying things here, but these indeed are trends that we see within the anime fanculture.
Ryan A: I think in that case, anime/manga probably faces the problem of being too “unknown”, from where it comes from to what themes are covered.
Regarding the cosplayer scenario, I don’t think you were being snobbish or elitist. Given the past history and stereotyping of anime fans in the past, it makes sense to be wary. Cosplay especially, which also faces castigation in Star Wars, Star Trek, LARPers, and any other group not operating on Halloween.
Hey, you just described Kasukabe’s metamorphosis in a blog post! Brilliant!
I think it’s all a phase that we go through, or keep on going through till we get rid of that mentality that you highlighted and escape that vicious cycle of loathing. I found the KnJ negativity to be especially irking, because what they were concerned with wasn’t the content itself, but how the content was presented.
Obviously ANN’s on the negative end of the spectrum, and I feel that as bloggers we have a social responsibility in that sense to try and show fans on the internet the better side of things, which is where I approach anime in most, if not all of my posts. Of course, it’s pretty hard battling on homeground (against other negative bloggers) as it is, but I try. And so do you by the looks of it.
>>Of course, it’s pretty hard battling on homeground (against other negative bloggers) as it is, but I try.
Oooo, cutting.
I think part of the elitism is a backlash against having anime associated with a show you don’t think is so great. For instance, Bleach is not a bad anime. I think it accomplishes its goals and doesn’t try to be something it’s not. However, if someone were to equate all anime fans with Bleach fans, that would make some anime fans uncomfortable. The backlash then becomes “No, Bleachtard, Bleach sucks!”
Since I’m in an adversarial mood, I’ll mutter darkly that what they were concerned with wasn’t the content per se, or its presentation, but its reception (moral panic and the stigmatisation of manga in general).
I guess my only question would be, were you embarassed that they were behaving badly (which I don’t think there’s any shame in) or were you embarassed that they where anime fans behaving badly?
But the content itself would provoke said reaction, and they were being pre-emptive! See also this link.
Although I do feel like you whenever there are bad cosplayers that flaunt themselves on as stage as big as an anime convention (or what have you), I believe there is also a duality with regard to their actions. As contemptible as it may seem, they show their passion for anime (or cosplay) by being bold to strut what they have (or don’t have). That’s way better than most of us who are only willing to simply watch from a distance. In this sense they are more passionate than us.
With passion, however, there is also utter disregard for the norm. This is why we anime fans (who are not as extreme or bold as these cosplayers) look at them with disdain. We ask: why would they do that? And we cannot answer, for we have never dared to place ourselves in their shoes.
Herein lies the duality. And dualities are the stuff of philosophy. There always exists a tension - and the answers are not so clear cut.
Caitlin: But why should we be wary?
Owen: Indeed. In more ways than one.
Kabitzin:
I think this works with Caitlin’s comment as well. I think it’s that fear of being having all anime fans being typecast as some of the more negative aspects of the fandom. Is that fear a bit irrational? Sure, but it’s also rational in some ways. Am I also being too optimistic with that last question? Sure, but as shown in my post, I’m pessimistic about that as well .
iniksbane: It wasn’t even that they were behaving badly. It was just that they weren’t behaving “normally” in the context of what I think society thinks as normal. And that ties into Kabitzin’s, IKnight’s and Caitlin’s comments. I still want people to see people liking anime as “normal”, and cosplay isn’t exactly a good example of that. I don’t know exactly why though. Some of it is self-affirmation that what I’m doing it alright, some of it is making anime more mainstream, and so on.
Michael: YES. And it’s why I see my behavior as elitist. And I shouldn’t be like that. I don’t feel comtempt, but embarrasment? Yeah.
One of the things I notice as a grow older is when I was younger, especially while in school, we tend to identify ourselves through the things we like. I think that’s because when we’re young, we’re not sure who we are yet and look externally for some help in doing that, which is where a bit of this internal snobbery comes from. Back in the day, I was a huge music snob, if two people I didn’t like were fans of a band, well that band had to be a bunch of sellouts to appeal to such mouth breathing knuckle draggers. Nowadays, I could care less if the band is a bunch of sellouts or who else likes them, so long as their music makes me feel. Their image no longer has any meaning to my identity. It’s just entertainment. In the same way, that fat sweaty otaku at the con, doesn’t represent me. He’s got nothing to do with me at all…though I hope he doesn’t sit next to me and rub his sweaty arm against mine, which has nothing to do with anime or our shared interest in it.
Now when fans cross the lines of “common courtesy” then I get irritated, but that’s something a little different than what you’re talking about, I think.
hmmm… personally, when it comes to fanservice, I have no problem with it, I just don’t like shows with no substance in general. If a show makes itself about fanservice, I usually wind up thinking ‘I could be watching porn right now’
First of all, I didn’t know you were so close to DC, too. I thought about going to that cherry blossom event every year for the past four years and now that I’m in college, I dont have the chance to go. I kinda wanted to, too.
Either way. I’m not gonna lie. Outside of the interweb, I am very elitist when it comes to the subject of anime. Everyone I meet who say that they like anime, I think in my head “you’re nowhere close to me”. I also dont like to show in any way that I like the stuff when I’m out in public so only my close friends know how far I’m into it (the only anime-esque shirt I’d wear is an SOS dan shirt and no one’d be able to tell if they didn’t know). So when I hear/see random people just being “stupid”, I feel bad for fandom. Every “shortsighted and superficial question” that you ask, I ask myself. You just cant help it.
note: Dont get it the wrong way, I dont berate inferior anime fans, though. I just smile and nod…. damn, now I sound like an asshole.
Why? I don’t think any group enjoys being made fun of by others. When there are elements of the group that are sticking their necks out, the feelings associated with these actions aren’t snobby - they’re natural. Success would be great, if they can pull it off. People will not find anime fans so weird. But failure means just one more instance for people to point out how weird anime fans are, despite that the majority are not cosplayers (I’m guessing on that one here). As for me, if I was there, I wouldn’t want to stand around and watch what could be a potential train wreck, but I’m a pessimist.
To be honest, reading through a good chunk of this post made me feel like I was going through an otaku mid-life crisis. Now I have the sudden urge to buy out all the anime in a Best Buy and drive back in a new Porsche convertible. But to get back to subject…
I find this not about otaku elitism but more about being an enlightened anime fan. No matter how you slice it, anime culture is reflective of its source culture, Japan. In America, anime has grown along more or less with sci-fi, fantasy and nerd culture. The unfortunate result is this culture disconnect. Mainstream American anime fans still mostly equate anime to a Western sci-fi, fantasy and action cartoon art form. Many don’t realize that there is an inherent Asian culture behind anime. This is why moe culture still has not been respected by mainstream American anime fandom. There’s no Western culture equivalent to moe. Thus, moe has become a disgusting anime anomaly in the Western mindset.
As for feeling bad about your fellow American otaku, that’s understandable. I find myself recommending shows which reveal elements of Japanese culture to these kinds of fans more often. I often consider myself a purveyor of Asian culture along with promoting anime culture. If anything, at least those unenlightened (cuz saying “stupid” is kinda mean) fans went to a cherry blossom festival and at least experienced some traditional Asian culture.
Yay for cherry blossom festivals. Philadelphia had theirs last weekend as well. But I burned myself so much from work last week that I was just too tired to go.
super rats: Yeah, common courtesy wasn’t affected here, so that’s a non-issue.
Indeed. A lot of my reaction there is due to thinking that I’m also representing the anime culture by being a fan. And from that, I’m thinking “why aren’t these people representing the anime culture as well as they could?” But that’s just conceited, and I’m trying to get out of that mindset. How am I supposed to know what these people can or should do, for example? It’s silly thinking like that.
digitalboy: As long as you aren’t blasting it from hell to high water instead of just leaving it alone.
Os: You can help it, I’d like to think. I don’t like to think that I’m better than anyone else, and it’s sad when this does happen, and in a hobby that I love as well. :/
And even if you turn out to be an asshole, we’ll love you anyway. :3
Caitlin: I think the problem is that in this aspect, a lot of us are pessimistic that anime will ever get mainstream overall acceptance. Especially when there are darker aspects of anime that people try to hide rather than explain that they in fact do exist.
A show like Kanokon is going to exist whether people like it or not, but you admit that it exists, that you don’t care about it, and move on. It’s not like a lot of people are going to say “THIS IS WHY ANIME IS BAD!”, as much as we fear that. But we can’t progress without making mistakes, and I just hope that the fan culture is able to allow itself to fail sometimes.
koneko-chan: As I said before, it’s the “unusual” aspect that anime has in terms of where it originated that also hinders a seamless acceptance. And I’m not sure how long it will take for things in the US to become more open and accommodating to something like anime, but it seems like it might take a while.
And as for “unenlightened” fans, I don’t look at them like that, but just as people with different interests. But just because there are different interests doesn’t mean that there’s not any common ground between them, other than sharing a passion for anime that is.
Anime fans are far and few in the place I live, it’s there, but it’s not in your face. Places like JB Hi-Fi sell Anime DVDs in Australia, but you don’t really see people dressed up like Anime characters.
I went to a Neil Gaiman signing and book talk the other day. You heard of The Sandman, no? People in the line to get things signed were dressed up like Sandman characters and dandies. It was the closest thing to Cosplay I’ve ever experienced, and even though it wasn’t Japanese, I felt the comradery between fans deeply. Nobody was dissing each other there.
I guess since I haven’t tried Cosplay I can’t judge too much, but I do understand the sense of belonging these fans feel, and the fun they get from the dressing up.
Maybe experiencing something closer to your own culture before you dive into Cosplay would build a better understanding of fandoms.
It’s shocking sometimes when you don’t really know any of the people who are cosplaying in an event, yet you feel like they’re doing something wrong, you feel like “wtf is wrong here”ish. But I can understand, you try to maintain a certain status-quo. To these genera which in a certain not specifically typed manner, your own. They disgrace you?
I’ve learned that it’s just cool to laugh it off, bring a friend and say “hey, ’twas a nice try ey” Could be worse